Fancy a healthy? Turns out Guinness really isn't that bad for you. (Reuters)
On the heels of St. Patrick’s Day, liquor giant Diageo has announced they will start adding nutrition labels to various products, including Guinness beer.
Now the consumer can decide if the popular slogan “Guinness is good for you!” rings true.
The move to label alcohol bottles will be a first for an industry that has historically fought hard to keep such information a secret.
Zsoka McDonald, a spokeswoman for Diageo said the company was previously banned from printing specific nutrition info like calories, carbohydrates and fat on its products. The new labels will say how much alcohol is contained within any given serving size, not just in 100 mL per European standard. In the U.S., alcohol does not fall under the same jurisdiction as food products and is not subject to same labeling requirements as other beverages.
Diageo recently received approval from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, which regulates alcohol in the U.S., for a “serving facts” panel to be added to its product labels.
"Currently, there is no obligation to provide such information in markets worldwide, but we know that consumers are increasingly discerning about what’s in their glass. We want to provide alcohol and nutrition information that consumers can quickly understand, instead of expecting them to do the math,” Diageo CEO Ivan Menezes remarked in a statement.
So what’s really in a Guinness?
According to Diageo, Guinness stout has 124 calories per 12 ounces. By comparison, a regular Budweiser has 145 calories in a 12 ounce can. Looks like the Irish really do have something to celebrate.
Diageo also owns Johnnie Walker, Captain Morgan, Smirnoff, Ketel and many internationally recognized brands. The company expects that new labels will begin rolling out in the next few months but nutrition information is currently available for many of its product on its website DRINKiQ.com.
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